Building and method of constructing the same



April 25, 1933. c H SNYDER I 1,906,117

BUILDING AND METHOD OF CONSTRUCTING THE SAME Filed Aug. 22, 1930 A TTORNEYS.

Patented Apr. 25, 1933 PATENT OFFICE onms'rornm n; SNYDER, or BERKEL Y, CALIFORNIA BUILnINe'A'nnME'rHon or cons'rnuc'rme THE SAME Application filedhugust 22, 1930.. Serial No. 477,065.

. This invention relates tobuiIdings and a method: of constructing buildings and particularly to .improvements which enable buildings comparable to those of the Class A type to be constructed at least as rapidly and .with less cost thanhas been possible heretofore. Buildingsof the-Class A type are built ,with a steel-frame which carries all horizontal and vertical stresses.

Multi-story buildings such as tall ofiice buildings are presently constructed either of -steelframe or of reinforced concrete; The steel frame building possesses, among other advantages, the advantage ofmuch quicker erection than the reinforced concrete buildthe (concrete can be poured for the floor next above. This delay in waiting for the setting of the concrete, and the necessity for shoring from floor to floor, for the entire height of the building, makes the erection of the con- H crete building much slower than the erection of the steel frame building.

Reinforced concrete buildings are also limited by building laws to ten or twelve stories in height. The cheapness of their construc- 11 5 tion is by means of the present invention made available in Class A building construction which is not restricted as to height.

I propose to provide a building which has all of the advantages of the steel frame building, both with respect to stability and speed of erection, and which in addition employs reinforced concrete construction 1n suflicient magnitude,to reducematerially the cost of the building. The concrete is employed in such manner that delays for the setting thereof are not encountered and so' that the continuous shoring is eliminated. This I accomplish by constructing, in the preferred form of the invention, each alternate floor of the usual or r desired steel frame construction and conare subsequently built in of reinforced constructing the intermediate floors of reinforced concrete construction, supporting forms for the intermediate concrete floors from the contiguous steel frame floors, thus permitting the building to be erected with the speed of one having a full steel frame, but at a lesser cost. r 1

It is the principal object of the present invention to devise a novel building and method of constructing the same which enables an improved building to be constructed with at least as great a speed and at a lessened cost compared to present buildings and methods of building construction. 7

Other advantageous features and objects. of the invention will appear in the following in which I have outlined the preferred form of building and the method of constructing the same of. my invention. It is to be understood that the building and method dis-z closed are the preferred embodiment and manner of practicing the invention but that modifications and variations herein can be made within the scope of the appended claims.

Briefly characterized, the building and the construction method therefor comprise a steel building. frame, erected in the usual 7 fashion, the frame including the usual steel columns and steel floorbeams, but having the; usual superimposed steel floors spacedwidely apart as at every alternate floor level or at every third floor level. -Theabsent floors crete. The forms and other structures neces-' 3 saryfor the erection of'each concrete -floor are supported from an adjacent steel floor as in accordance with the preferred manner of the present invention. The view particularly depicts a side elevation of a portion of the building.

The invention is probably best understood in detail by considering the erection of a building in accordance with the preferred manner. Steel columns 7, designed in a manner usual to any steel frame building, are erected by methods employed by those skilled in that art. A plurality of transverse steel members such as beams are positioned between the columns to provide several spaced superimposed steel floors 8'. These floors are preferably spaced apart at a distance greater than the normal distance at which floors are ordinarily provided in a building. Thus, the floors are preferably spaced about 25 feet apart, or twice the normal distance of 12 feet usually provided between floors, although they can be otherwise spaced as at every third floor level, or 37 feet apart, or, whatever spacing is required by the architect. The steel floors 8 and the columns 7, together with other steel members usual to construction such as wind bracing and tie members, constitute a steel building frame in which, for example, approximately only half of the number of floors are present. Due

to the absence of alternate steel frame floors,

the wind bracing members at each steel frame floor may be increased in magnitude, if desired.

In accordance with the present invention, the floors omitted between the steel floors are provided of reinforced concrete or of concrete construction with the omission of the usual heavy steel beams, the concrete construction 11 including only the usual reinforcing steel utilized in any materials and such minor beams such as wind bracing desirable from a design standpoint- The floors of reinforced concrete are readily constructed at the desired level in the building by supporting the forms therefor from a contiguous steel floor as from the steel floor below, by shoring, or from the floor above, by hanging. This is quite possible since the design of the steel floors includes a live load factor and a factor for the weight of partitions which loads, until the building is finally completed, are not present. The columns are designed to take the whole weight of the building and no undue weight is therefore 4 placed upon them.

The building and method of my invention constitutes a distinct advance in the art over previous buildings and methods inasmuch as it is not necessary to wait for the concrete to set before the next floor can be poured. Since the forms for the reinforced concrete floors are borne by the steel floors, the reinforced concrete floors can be poured as fast as the forms and reinforcing steel are placed and as fast as the steel frame can be erected.

The cheapness of reinforced concrete makes possible a saving at present prices of approximately twenty-five cents for each square foot of reinforced concrete floor employed in the construction. This saving is further ap parent when it is considered that the steel beams in say half the floors are replaced by light reinforcing rods which carry the tension and by the concrete which carries the compression. Very little concrete is required for the concrete fioors in excess of that ordinarily utilized in fire-proofing the steel beams in steel frame construction.

I claim:

1. A building comprising upright steel columns, a plurality of steel floor beams fixed on said columns and vertically spaced apart, and a reinforced concrete floor fixed on said columns and disposed in the space between said steel floor beams.

2. A building comprising a frame including a plurality of substantially vertical steel columns and a plurality of substantially horizontal steel beam floors supported by said columns, and substantially horizontal reinforced concrete floors located between said steel beam floors and supported by said columns.

3. A method of constructing a building comprising erecting a plurality of steel columns, erecting a plurality of spaced steel beam floors supported on said columns, erecting a plurality of removable forms for cast reinforced concrete floors, supporting said forms from said steel beam floors and in the 3 spaces between the latter, and forming said concrete floors in said forms.

In testimony whereof,'I have hereunto set my hand.

CHRISTOPHER H. SNYDER. 

